March 5, 2012

BC mothers rally for child-care

Child-care continues to be inaccessible
for many parents and the workers are
some of the lowest paid educators.

Reprinted from Burnaby Now
By Christina Myers

This article is the seventh in a series of eight feature stories RY magazine is presenting before International Women's Day on March 8th. Here we present a short personal story of the ongoing struggle for child care.

A group of parents at Taylor Park Elementary School in Burnaby have banded together in the hopes of creating a new out-of-school care program so that future parents won't be facing the same challenges they're now dealing with.

The group pulled together more than 175 signatures on a petition asking for a daycare facility at the school, which they're hoping to present to the city in their effort to get support and attention for the plan.

"It's a big problem," said parent Yan Xing.

Xing has a son in kindergarten and said she was on a waiting list for an out-ofschool care program at a nearby school but wasn't able to secure a spot in time.

As a full-time research scientist with the B.C. Cancer Agency, Xing - like many parents - needs child care before and after school, but there is currently no such program at Taylor Park….

Other parents, she said, are forced to bring their kids to care farther away from the school, and then have them driven back, or make do with temporary solutions.

There's also the added challenge of school holidays.

"There's 10 (professional development days) for the whole year, one week spring break - that's all my vacation to take that off," she noted.
…

In a letter to the city, Xing wrote of the importance of finding child care.

"We are looking for opportunities to have a child-care facility operated in our school campus, to provide a safe and caring environment for our children in outof-school hours. A quality before/after school care program is more than babysitting and homework help. An excellent program addresses the entire child growth in all aspects."